Thanks For The Memories
by DieselFire
Summary: This fic was inspired by the Fall Out Boy hit...dont know how to explain it, you'll have to read it to get the gist of it. CHAPTER 4 HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH THE SAME CONTENT BUT A DIFFERENT CLIFFHANGER ENDING! CHAP.5 COMING SOON!
1. Chapter 1

**Fourteen years after TFATF**

Growing up in a male-dominated family of mechanics, I didn't have much feminine influence aside from my dad's sister, Mia; didn't know much about my mom either, other than that I got her smart mouth and her temper. I began my "official" mechanic training when I was 9, even though Vince and Leon had been teaching me stuff when Dad wasn't looking. Before that, I'd been confined to the store when I wasn't at school or at soccer practice.  
I have memories of her from when I was little, like before she left or whatever, but they're all just flashes of incomplete things, and I'd never seen her face because Dad and Vince packed up all her stuff; like he wanted to forget she'd even been a part of his life.

For the first four or five years that I was old enough to realize that she wasn't there, I wished she'd come back—like on my birthday or something stupid like that—but after years of nothing happening; I gave up on it as I began to cave to Mia's attempts at being a mom or something.

**Chapter One:** All the Wrong Reasons

I remember the first time I saw her. I was fourteen; a freshman in high school. It was late August and hotter than hell. I was helping Vince replace the NOS valves on a Firebird some nut job Leon knew blew out when she came in. Vince dropped the lead replacement valve on my foot when he saw her; which led to my knee being smashed in to the grille plating and my hand being sliced into the jagged edge of the fragmented valve.

"Goddamnit Vince! What the hell is wrong with you?!" I seethed as I quickly left the room to clean the wound on my hand; I could live with the pain in my knee but I couldn't work efficiently in the garage with my hand bleeding non-stop. The washroom wasn't far from the main area of the garage so I was able to hear his conversation with the woman.

"What are you doing here, Letty?" he asked, his eyes watching me carefully as I went back to work on the Firebird.  
"Dom around?" she asked. I nearly hit my head on the hood of the car when I heard her speak. I recognized that voice; I knew I did but I couldn't place where I'd heard it before.

"He's in the office," he said smugly. I looked up from removing the remaining valves and gave him a questioning look as he came over.

"What was that about?" I asked as he took the wrench from my hand. "And why didn't you drool over _her_ like you do every other chick that comes up in here?" Vince glared warningly at me.

"Don't worry about it, Maya." He said tersely through clenched teeth. "It doesn't concern you."

"Then why was she watching me like a hawk?" I demanded, quickly tiring of V's games. "It's not like it's _her_ or something, right?"

"No."

His answer was immediate; coming almost too quickly for it not to be a lie. My head immediately went to the dog tags which hung from my neck, right beside my crucifix and the key to my mother's car. From what Mia had told me when I was little, the tags were one of the only things she'd left behind that I was legally entitled to before a certain age. The rest of it was locked up in a safety deposit box in the bank; and it couldn't be opened until I turned eighteen.

Even though I'd asked countless times, none of my father's team would tell me what her name was. I knew the maiden name but that was it. Rodriguez. The only photograph I'd seen of her was in Dom's wallet, which I never had access to. That night at supper, I was quieter than I'd been in years.

"Dad, who was that woman who came into the garage this afternoon?" I asked causing Dom to practically gag on the egg roll he was eating. The others waited expectantly for Dom's response when Mia dragged me out of the dining room and back into the kitchen.

"Maya, its one thing to ask Vince and Leon about whom your mother was but it's a whole different ballgame asking Dom point blank."

"It _was _her, wasn't it? The girl Vince was talkin' to this morning _was _my mother."  
"Maya, I didn't say that, so don't go jumping to conclusions like that." Mia said, placing both her hands on my shoulders. "I wasn't there this morning so I can't say for sure but by what the guys have told me, you're gonna be stuck at the shop with me for a while."

"That's ridiculous!" I sniped.

"Maya, he's just trying to protect you!"

"Protect me from what exactly?" I demanded, slowly losing my patience. "What's the big secret that nobody thinks I can handle knowing about?"

"There are certain things that Dom has asked us not to tell you about. But I _will_ say this: your parents love you. Your father gave up street racing so he could be here for you…"

"When she left me because she didn't want me!" I snarled back as I stormed out of the kitchen. Mia followed me out. Halfway up the stairs, she spoke.

"Maya Natalia Toretto, I don't know why your mother left you here but I do know that she loved you." As she said this, I saw red and lost control.

"You know, Mia, they have a label for someone like you: _wishful thinkers_. You trick yourself into believing that trash you say about my ma because Brian made you fall for the enemy and then he left you when he broke his case." Mia opened her mouth to reply but I cut her off. "The thing is, in order for Team Toretto to make a clean break you and O'Connor couldn't see each other anymore." I wanted so say more, god knows I was angry enough to but the look on Dad's face gave way to the penalty if I continued my tirade. I turned and stormed the rest of the way up the stairs and slammed the door of my room just hard enough to shake the window panes and the frames on the wall.

Seconds later, the front door slammed, followed by footsteps on the stairs. They weren't heavy enough to have been my dad's, so I waited for whoever it was to reach the top of the stairs and knock.

"I know you're in there, Maya. I just wanna talk. Your dad's gone out after Mia; Vince is tailing him." I let the breath I didn't know I'd been holding out. Leon was my big brother, even if he was my dad's age. He'd known my mom but he'd never wanted to talk about her when I'd asked. All he ever said was that I look like her and that she'd be proud of who I was turning into.

I stood and opened the door, wiping furiously at the remaining tears that were on my face.

"Maya, I should have given these to you a few years ago but when the time came, I'd completely forgotten about them." I stared back at him in bewilderment.

"Leon, brother, what are you talking about?" he held up a cardboard box, which I eyed cautiously. "What's this, man?"

"Letters that your moms wrote you before she—you know." I nodded as he continued. "There's supposed to be a letter in here for different stuff. Ain't quite sure but I guess they're supposed to explain this shit or something." He turned to leave but I put a hand on his arm.

"Le, how angry is he?" Leon sighed and sat down against the wall.

"He's protective of Mia, an' even more so when it comes to you. But back there, you came closer than any of us has in a long time to crossing a line. Mia gave up a lot to help Dom take care of you. Your moms took care of Mi when Dom was in Lompoc; so I guess she felt obligated to return the favor."

"Obligated? That's a three syllable word, Le…"

"Don't change the subject!" I laughed at Leon's attempt at being intelligent.

The front door slammed and I could see my dad's Veilside in the drive and before I realized it, he was standing in my room holding the door shut, and Leon was the only thing standing between us. Ironically, for what I'd said to Mia, he didn't seem all that angry.

"Maya Natalia…I am not mad at you but I am _very disappointed_ and embarrassed by your behavior and what you said to your Aunt today. She gave up her future to take care of you as if you were her own."

"Did you know about the letters, Daddy?" I asked, looking him dead in the eyes.

"What are you talking about? What letters?"

"The ones Mami left for me that Leon never gave me until now!" I went back into my room and shut the door. I sat down on the bed and hesitantly lifted the lid from the box.

Looking at the writing on the envelopes was almost like looking at my own handwriting; the date on the first letter was 14 years ago the day I was born.

'_Maya,_

_I'm sittin' here in a hospital bed in the _maternity ward _of all places; at LA General. I always thought that Mia would be the first one here. I bet you're wondering why our family is the way it is. I grew up down the street from Dom and Mia. He and Vince have been friends since they were kids; Leon an' Jesse just showed up one night at the races and never left…'_

"That explains our family but not the flashbacks of when I was a baby…"

I was lost in my thoughts when I realized that Leon was standing in front of me again, holding a box simply labeled, _Rodriguez_ on the sides.

"What is this, Leon?"

"More stuff that you're supposed to get now; it's been sitting up the attic collecting dust for a decade and a half." He answered, putting the box on the bed and pulling the lid off. The first item that caught my attention was a bag full of receipts, the original envelopes of photographs lay just beneath it.

"Leon, please tell me you know why these receipts are charged for double copies of photos from when I was born to the night of my fourteenth birthday?"

"You should ask Mia about those…" Leon answered taking the bag from my hand and placed it behind him. "You've asked about your mom and Dom and all that shit; Mia would be the one to go to, she's made scrapbooks for years now; she just focused herself on the team, and keeping us together."

"Does she still have it? The one she made for Dad and Letty, I mean?"

"If we do, it's up in the attic. I'll get V to help dig those out later. See you started in on the letters; learn anything?" I snorted at him.

"Aside from you having been here forever, no… _'Vince has been around for as long as Mia…he and Dom have been friends since the 3__rd__. He's always had a thing for her and he's been wrapped around her finger all along. You're safe here, Maya; safer than you'd be if I was still there. Blood's more than power to the Torettos; they'll take care of you and you'll always be welcome. Stay safe—Ma.'_ " I looked at Leon, feeling both anger and resentment stirring. "I…I'm not exactly allowed in the attic by myself."

Leon nodded and headed out into the hall. I followed as he pushed the cover of the attic up into a perpendicular position and hoisted himself up into the attic.

"You're not just going to leave me where I stand, are you, Leon?" I asked sweetly. He'd disappeared a moment earlier into the shadows of the attic but returned almost immediately, hanging so that he could pull me up easier.

"What exactly are we looking for up here, Maya?" He stood as he asked, brushing off the knees of his jeans off with his hands.

"I'm not really sure. I just get the feeling that there's something she's not telling me in the letters. I still wanna find that scrapbook; but home movies, old photo albums; something like that. I want to find something that has her photo in it." Leon looked at me like I was crazy. "What, is it so wrong for me to want to know what my own mother looked like?"

"Last I heard, the books were under the window over there; but the tapes might be a little harder to find." As I turned to go to the other end of the attic, I saw Leon reach into his pocket for something which wound up being a mini flashlight.

"Here. You might need this." He said as he tossed it to me.  
In under half an hour, I'd found the box with the scrap books in it.

"I found it but I can't read half of the stuff that's written in here. I think it's Italian, maybe Portuguese." I said, setting the book on the end table behind me and continued rummaging through the boxes. I found photos of the entire team and eventually came across a face that I didn't recognize, even though I felt like I knew her.

"Leon, I think I found her. Seriously, bro; get your ass over here and tell me this woman is where I get my looks from already!" Leon walked over and took the photo out of my hand.

"Oh, yeah, that's her alright. She and Dom met when she was twelve or some shit like that…D spent so much time watching her it was…I dunno…crazy shit right there."

"Leo, you know where she is, don't you? There's no logical way in hell that, in nearly twenty years, that you haven't seen her or at least talked to her a few times."

"Maya, your pops'd kill me if I took you to see her. I would, but I need the job and the place I sleep at night."

"Fine. I'll get Hector to take me; or maybe Edwin'd do it." Leon howled at this.

"Girlie, you're fucked up if you think Dom Toretto would _ever_ let you get in a car with either of them. I'll take you." My face lit up at this.

"Today?" I asked, somehow praying he'd give me the answer I wanted and grant the one wish I'd had for longer than I could remember. "Leon, please. Just this one time; of all the insane things I've ever asked of you that I knew I'd never get, please. Just let me have this one. If she really doesn't want me, let her say it to my face. I need the closure of hearing it with my own ears." I could feel the tears building behind my eyes

"It's midnight now, if we leave in 5, we'll be in Santa Rosa by sunrise."

"Let's go, then. You're driving, I need to sleep." I slept fitfully, filled with surreal dreams that made me question my motive for begging Leon to take me to Santa Rosa. I spent half the ride staring at the clock and the other half staring at the stars as Leon flew down the highway.

"Leon, what if I was right, about her not wanting me, and Dad was just trying to protect me from getting hurt?"

"There's only one thing that could ever make your dad hate you, Maya—becoming involved with Johnny Tran. Anything else will fade. Because of whom you are nobody with half a brain would dare lay a hand on you."

"Hour and twenty minutes till sunrise." I said. "Do they have street races in Santa Rosa?"

"I don't know and you're not supposed to be racing anyway."

"You're fuckin' pathetic, Leon. You know that? My god, have I messed _all _of you up this badly?"  
"I meant you're not s'posed to race in LA…I never said nothin' 'bout Santa Rosa."

"What good is that when I can't even get behind the wheel of one of those cars?" I shot back. I was probably as shocked at myself as Leon was at my response but that wasn't about to stop me. "I'm sick to hell of everyone treating me like one of those prissy-assed china dolls! I'm sick of being lied to…fourteen years of secrets is way more than enough!" my ranting must have lasted longer than I thought because the next, he'd killed the engine and was getting out of the car.

"Last chance to turn back, kid."

"If I don't do this now, I never will." I muttered to myself. My nerves soon set in and I found myself pulling Leon's freshly lit cigarette and claiming it as my own.

"Are you gonna smoke like that till I'm sure she's awake?" he asked, nodding towards the house I could barely see.

"You feel like messin' wit her car?"

"It's too dark for that and I _don't _need another count of GTA."

"Well then I'ma find something to key…" I'd barely made it past him when he grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"Whoa, you got enough on your record to put you in Juvie for a nickel. I'd be in it neck-deep if you got put away and I didn't even try to stop you."

"If you were to wake her up _now_, what would she do?"

"Yell her ass off and then go back to bein' the old Letty." He answered a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that I hadn't seen in a while.

"What are you gonna do? I know you and I know when you're up to somethin', man!"

"I'ma go up to the door, you right be hind me and when we get up there, I'ma ring the bell with you out of sight; when it's time I'll signal you."

"Why so cocky, Leon?"

"Not cocky just rememberin' all the hell we raised. Let's go."  
We reached the door and I moved to turn and leave when I felt a hand on my shoulder.


	2. Hate and Trust

**Chapter Two:**

"Just chill and breathe…" I hear Leon say. It didn't help much; I felt like I was centre stage with the biggest spotlight on earth. And then the door opened.

"How you livin', Girl?"

"It's five o'clock in the goddamned morning, Leon. Most sane fucks are asleep right now, man!" she snapped, a scowl not unlike mine crossed her face.

"Now that…that's just damn scary, man! Maya, get your ass over here kid!"

I pushed myself off the wall of the house, the heels of my boots clunking against the floorboards of the porch as I ran my hand through my hair. Letty's eyes nearly doubled in size when she saw me. Then she saw the chain with the dog tags.

"Does Dom know she's here?" I shot Leon a dirty look and Letty must have seen it.

"Nope, and I don't think Maya really gives a shit." Leon stated simply. "She ripped into Mia a few hours ago 'cause she saw you talkin' ta Coyote at the garage. Dom's kept pretty air-tight about you…even though the kid's been askin since she was six.

"We should move this inside." I rolled my eyes at this, thinking we'd be on our way back to LA in under half an hour.

The next thing I knew I was curled up on the corner of a couch, slumped against the armrest. As I stood up, I felt the effects of falling asleep on the couch.

"Okay, memo to self: don't sleep on a couch after a four hour car ride with Leon drivin' at 98 MPH…" I groaned to myself as I cracked my neck.

"I could have told you that." Came from behind me.

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't have happened if you'd been around." I snapped at her. At that moment, she was just like any other racer skank that fawned over my dad; the only difference was that she was my mother.

"Why are you here?" she asked. I could feel her eyes on me as I refused to meet her gaze; I wasn't sure how to answer.

"Where's Leon?" I asked her, deliberately changing the subject.

"Went out about half an hour ago; should be back soon though." I wandered out of the den and through the bottom floor, determined to find the kitchen. "Look, I know you don't like me…"

"I never said that. No, I don't trust you." I snapped at her as I turned on my heels. "Do you realize how sheltered I've been because you left me? I'm allowed to go to the races, but I'll never get to drive in one; I can work on all the cars I damn well please but I'll never get one of my own. And as far as race wars is concerned?" I laughed before continuing. "I might as well not even be Dominic Toretto's daughter."

"Maya…"

"No! When you left LA, you left being a part of my family. You don't know what I've watched my family go through in my life so spare me the fucking lecture!"

I stormed out of the houses as Leon was coming up the walk. He must have caught the look on my face cause as I climbed into the passenger seat, he was revving the engine and tearing out of the driveway.

"How much trouble am I in?"

"Not nearly as much as I'm about to be in when we get to Los Angeles for taking you on this little 'joyride' of yours…Mia's spending the night at the Narc's…ain't goin' see her for a few days till V goes all territorial an' shit."

"They still haven't jumped each other?"

"She's got Vince wrapped so tight around her little finger and she don't even know it."

"Maybe it's more than that, Le. Maybe…maybe it's like she's interested but she don't wanna wind up like Dad and Letty. Y'know, like the way Dad was about packin' Letty's stuff when she left."

"You _sure_ you're Letty's kid? When you talk about that kinda stuff you sound more like Mia's kid."

"If this is my fault that she's gone back to O'Connor, I have to fix this…"

"The only place you're going is back to Los Angeles and back to the base. You got me in enough shit."

We were silent for the remainder of the drive back to LA as I slipped into a fitful sleep. The last half hour I was just sitting there pretending to sleep. When we pulled into the driveway, I bolted out of the car and into the house, nearly trampling Jesse en route to the full bath that Mia and I shared. As I left the bath, I heard footsteps behind me.

"I thought you were at O'Connor's place." The words barely left my lips before I realized that I'd spoken, what came next shocked me even more. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. You were right. I wasn't ready to confront Letty." Mia stopped in her tracks at the door of her room and turned to look at me.

"It's fine. I know you were upset. I actually spent most of the night walking the beach…with Vince of all people. I was going through my closet when I found this," she said, pointing to a book on the foot of the bed that looked about as overstuffed as it could get.

"The scrapbook."

"This one's mostly Letty; some of her and Dom…" I started flipping through the book but stopped abruptly when I saw the photos of the two of them together.

"They look happy together…what happened?"

"Johnny Tran and his crew started raising hell after the brawl at Race Wars; he'd beaten Jesse for the Jetta. Lance wound up dead and Johnny did a bang up job makin' it look like Letty did it." Dom answered entering the room.

"But why'd she run?"

"I told her to; we were in enough trouble as it was without murder one."

"And at present all I know about her is that Johnny tried to pin Lance on her and that she has a mouth as dirty as mine and anybody here. Might as well be dead, man."

"You need to get packin' for the desert; we leave at dawn." Dad left the room as he said this. Mia turned to look at me.

"For the record, Letty may be in the desert tomorrow, but as long as you stay out of sight you should be okay." I rolled my eyes at this.

"And here I was hoping I might actually get to see one of the grease monkeys race…hell, even seein' my dad win one would be nice. Price of being the legend's daughter, I guess, everybody's heard of me but no one's ever seen me."

"I can talk to him, try and get him to let you watch."

I went downstairs later that night to find Leon and Jesse playing some racin' game—Jesse wasn't doing very well.

"Leon, where's my dad?"

"Went out for a while, kid; didn't leave no details." This caught my attention. My dad _never_ left the house without details.

"What about Vince?"

"Probably out back having a beer." Vince was my dad's age but I swear he was still seventeen years old in his head. He was my dad's best friend and if anybody knew where he was, it was usually Vince.

"V, you know where my dad's at, man?" he didn't turn around as he shook his head to negate my question. "Look, bro, I'm sorry about the stunt I pulled the other day…and for the position I put ya in with Mia…" That was all I said before turning to go back into the house.

"It's cool, kid. Gave us a chance to actually talk…somethin' that ain't happened since before O'Connor fucked things up. Came back right around the time your moms left."

"The next person that mentions her is going to lose a limb." I snapped.

"Ya used to like hearing those stories…" V said, finishing off the corona in his hand.

"Yeah, _used_ is the keyword, there, Vincent. Ain't much to enjoy when I barely remember her." I sat down on the ground across from V. "This—none of this—would have happened if I'd just listened to Mia."

"Ya got yer mom's temper; Maya…ain't no gettin' around that. You're a Toretto to top things off; people in this family do stupid things when they get rubbed the wrong way.

"All these years I've listened to the stories about shit other kids did with their moms and I guess I just got sick of it. For a while it was enough to have Mia as a substitute, but it doesn't beat the real thing." I got up and brushed the dirt from the seat of my jeans and went back into the house to take a seat on the porch swing.

Hours later, I'd nearly fallen asleep when I was jolted awake by the familiar sound of my dad's engine and that of a car I didn't recognize. I couldn't see who he was with until they reached the porch. When they walked into the light, I saw that he had his arm around Letty's waist.

"Maya, where the boys at?" My eyes stayed fixed on Dom's as I answered.

"Vince was out back last I saw and Jesse was getting his ass handed to him by Leon at Auto Assault. Mia's probably crashed by now." There was more being said between Dom and I than one could hear, I don't know if Letty picked up on it. I could feel her eyes boring into me the entire time and it made me cringe as I knocked the lid to the box of letters closed.

As Dad went inside the house, Letty leaned against the porch railing. I could tell she was trying to work up the nerve to say something to me again, despite our last attempt not going so well.

"How far have you gotten in those?" Truth be told, I had half a mind to just flip the bird and be done with it, but I surprised myself when I spoke.

"Ninth birthday; year of NOS… Dad was so pissed at V and Leon when he found out they'd jumpstarted teaching me things they were doin' scud work for months." I subconsciously started playing with the chain around my neck. "I got these when I was eight… Mia gave 'em to me when Daddy wasn't lookin'." She didn't seem surprised. "These, on the other hand, I didn't get till three days ago…think the NOS finally got to Leon's head."

"And the drugs definitely didn't help." Letty supplied, actually managing to make me laugh. "He ain't always been as straight laced as he is. There used to be women in this house at all hours of the night…and not just me and Mia. That changed around the time I started showing."

"Why are you telling me this, Letty?"

"Because you need to know that your father had nothing to do with my leaving."

"I know that. My father and Mia told me before he went to Santa Rosa. Johnny tried to pin Lance's murder on you; did a bang up job to make Daddy tell you to run. But that ain't what bothers me, Letty. It's the way you never bothered with coming back; not once in fourteen years." I'm not sure why I did it but I got up and walked back into the house, letting the door slam behind me. I went up to my room and locked the door behind me. Mia walked out onto the porch and was surprised by what she saw.

"What is this, the twilight zone or something now?" she asked, handing the corona she had in her hand to Letty.

"At least you aren't yellin' at me…yet." Letty answered, taking a swig from the bottle. "I shouldn't have let him bring me back here." Mia's eyes widened.

"Dom drove all the way to Santa Rosa and brought you back here? Race Wars is tomorrow, you know that, right?" Letty's eyes flashed.

"Where is your brother?" she asked as she stood up. The edge was slowly creeping back into her voice.

"Probably upstairs with Maya…I don't know, why?"

"Cause he's getting ready to lose what balls he had left after I kneed him right before I left him."


	3. Reasons and Truths Untold

**Chapter Three:**

Dom and Maya heard Letty and Mia coming up the stairs before they saw them.

"Letty, don't do this! Don't you think Maya's been traumatized enough for one week?"

"This doesn't concern my daughter."

"Oh, so you want her to have to watch you walk out that door a second time; only this time, she'll be able to remember it." Mia said, her voice almost as angry as it was when Brian told her he was a cop.

"Excuse me?"

"She was in the house that afternoon; upstairs in the nursery with me. She took her first steps—only it was more of a run—to the top of the stairs. She got there just as you walked out." Mia's voice started to crack. "You walk out on her again and I won't be the one to pick up the pieces again. I see enough of it in the psych ward in the hospital. She had nightmares for three years, until she was five; then they became more and more sporadic. I don't remember the last time she woke up screaming." Mia shoved past Letty and into her room, slamming the door behind her with a resounding thud.

"She's right, you know." Letty turned her head to see Dom standing in the doorway behind her.

"Did you bring me here to help you win race wars?" Dom could tell from the look in Letty's eyes that she wasn't in the mood for his games.

"Yes, but…"

"I cannot believe I _ever_ considered marrying you!"

"We usually take Edwin or Hector but neither could go this year…what the hell was I supposed to do, Letty?"

"You should have told me why you _really_ came to see me. I glanced through the door jam and saw her standing toe to toe with Dad.

"I would have driven the open slot, but I'm not allowed to race." I said, leaning against the door frame.

"I can't believe you won't let her race!"

"We lost her brother to this life style and we almost lost her! Hell we almost lost all three of you and I wasn't gonna take that chance on her!" okay, now they'd lost me.

"Brother?! What brother?!" Dom looked at Letty.

"This one's yours. Leon, Vince, Mia and I have covered your ass more times than you deserve; enough to last a lifetime." He said, closing the door behind him as he left the room.

"I had a brother?" I asked so quietly I wasn't sure she'd heard me. "Older, younger, what?"

"You….had a twin. I was about two months in…didn't even know I was pregnant at the time. I had just won a quarter-mile race. I'd already stopped my car when I got sideswiped.

"When we got to the hospital, I'd fractured my arm and was bruised all over the place. They started talking about surgery and one of the nurses was trying to get your dad to sign a consent form for pre-natal surgery when they realized we didn't know that I was pregnant. By then I'd already lost your brother; so I just signed the forms for them to do whatever they could to save you.

"If you nearly lost me, why the hell did you leave me?!"

"I can't answer that. But I will tell you that I'm working on coming back to Los Angeles." I stood up, my hands going straight to the dog tags as I started pacing.

"You're gonna have to work your ass off; you know, and not just to build up a relationship with me, but to fix things with the boys and Mia."

After a sleepless night, Letty woke in a room she realized had once been hers but now belonged to her fifteen year old daughter, who was nowhere to be found.

"What are you doing?"

"Couldn't sleep so I'm working on fixing this godforsaken engine from Dad's Charger."

"That was your grandfather's car…I thought Dom totaled it before he got to Mexico City."

"He did, but I've been working on fixing it for like five months. The wreck's still out in the shed; I think he's kinda given up on fixing it, but I'm not sure why."  
"What exactly are you trying to do with that thing?"

"Not sure yet. It seems like every time I get past the baked on metal, I run into more solid grease and oil…which as you can see, gets _everywhere._"

"I would have thought you'd be gone by now."

"You'll want to move aside for a minute, Ma." I said, picking up a hose before spraying Vince and Leon with motor oil. "There, now it'll take you twice as long to get as filthy as you usually do at race wars." Leon left with Vince grumbling something about a 'bad influence'.

"I did that once; to Dom…he didn't talk to me for a week cause I did it with gasoline and not motor oil."

"He hasn't lost his temper since the last time Johnny Tran came around when I was twelve….said somethin' about me and then something I didn't understand about you when dad hit him."  
I said, wiping the grease from my hands on the faded bottoms of the jumpsuit. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dad coming out of the house and towards the driveway.

"Maya, go make sure the SRX is ready for the desert." I rolled my eyes and shoved the wrench I held into my pocket and left the garage.

"Why are you making her recheck what you already did before we left Santa Rosa?"  
"You don't see it, do you?" Letty gave him a look. "She looks exactly like you did at fifteen!"

"Bullshit! Like you even remember what I looked like at fifteen; you didn't even know I existed before I had a decent rack and an ass to go with it!"

"Oh, trust me; fifteen was a long year."

"Please! You had every skank with a pulse drooling over you! Every day it was a different girl!"

"What, and Johnny wasn't drooling over you from the day he laid eyes on you?!" She slapped him. I might not have seen it, but I know she slapped him.

"Like you'd have noticed if I had gotten with Johnny." She seethed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "But if he had, he wouldn't have beaten Jesse and cost him that goddamn Jetta because he would have already been dead!" I could tell she had more to say when Leon and Vince pulled them apart.

"That's enough outta Antony and Cleopatra," Vince snarled from where he stood between my parents. I walked back up the lawn and stood beside Mia on the veranda.

"I think V might have actually learned something when I made him help out with that Shakespeare garbage last year." She joked, trying to distract me.

"Alright, everybody to their cars…kid, you're with me." I heard Vince say and I shrugged it off; everything was so distorted I felt like I was in a bad dream that I couldn't wake up from.

"This week's been shit for you." I snorted in response

"Really, I hadn't noticed. I thought it had been a goddamn pleasure cruise, Vincent."

"I'm just tryin' to help, Maya."

"I know, I just wish I'd listened to Mia and not guilted Leon into taking me up to Santa Rosa."

"Forget about it. At least you know both your folks. Besides, we all land face first in the shit sometimes….I did a few dozen times with Mia…"

I laughed at him, like really laughed at him, like I hadn't done in a really long time.

"You been after about as long as my parents have known each other." I laughed, "But remember to slap me if I ever fall for a racer, yeah?"

"You'll be eatin' your words when ya reel the boy in."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

"What's goin' through your mind, Dom?" Leon asked. Dom had been silent since they left the house and now it was getting annoying. He was tense, the radios had been silent among the cars and their drivers, evidence that the tension was felt on all sides.

"Deciding if I should beat the shit out of you or if I'm supposed to thank you for turning my life upside down; if I'm angrier at you for ignoring the fact that I told you not to take her there or at myself for thinking that I could keep her in Los Angeles."

"For the record, if it hadn't been me it would have been Vince." Dom stayed focused on the road. "If this is gonna be something else for you and Letty to fight about three years from now, tell me now so I can get the hell outta dodge with Vince and the girl."

"Quarter mile at a time, Leon. I won't make the same mistake twice."

"You've said that before, brother."

"She seemed fine; for years, she was fine with Mia as her mother."

"The way I see it, you're lucky she took to Letty the way she has."  
"She's more like her mom than she'll ever know."

"Only thing worse than one Letty is a mother daughter team of them."

The silence between Mia and Letty was slowly grating on Mia's nerves. She'd lashed out at Letty before but she'd never gotten this reaction; never withdrawn and fallen completely silent before.

"Pull over." This pulled Letty out of her thoughts.

"What?"


	4. Still Fighting After All These Years

**Chapter Four:**

"I said _pull over_, Letty. I'll drive for a while."

"Mia, I'm fine." Letty snapped back at her, drumming her fingers on the steering column.

"You're **not** fine, dammit! I've known you since we were kids and you've never stayed quiet this long. Pull the hell over!" Mia bit back and reached for the radio. "Dom, we gotta find someplace to eat."

"Mia…" he began but was cut off.

"Dom—NOW!"

"Lady Problems, there, Mia?" Came Vince's cackle over the radio waves. Letty laughed.

"Fuck that, Vince. At least you made Lady-Stick-Up-Her-Ass laugh."

"Mia, lay off and take the next exit. We'll go from there."

"Whatever."  
Half an hour later we were all outside a Waffle House. Vince was holding Mia back from the Louisville Slugger from the backseat of his car. Letty moved to approach Mia and I got in the way

"I don't know what's goin' on with you two and but you're gonna let it go. I thought you two were supposed to be friends, but Mia, I gotta say, you rippin' into her like that ain't the Mia Toretto I know." I turned to Letty. "I don't know why you left and quite frankly, I don't give much of a damn anymore. What I _do_ care about is that I get the chance to know my mother; aside from the stories I've heard since I could walk."

"Maya, I don't…" I held up my hands.

"Mia and Vince are riding together; Daddy, you and Leon are stuck together…I'll be with L…" I stopped. "I'll be with Mom."

I saw her smile to herself—this was a small victory on the road to repairing the bridges we'd burned in our relationship, and with that we headed into the Waffle House. Dad pulled Mom aside.

"What now?" she chided, swatting playfully at his hands.

"Watch what she orders…always gets the same thing whenever a place has 24-hour breakfast."

"What, am I heading into another _Twilight Zone_ moment?" Dom didn't answer but Letty could see the answer in his eyes. She stalked into the slightly dingy diner with Daddy's arm around her neck, whispering something in her ear that made him sucker-punch him in the gut.

"What's good?"

"What, no Waffle Houses in Santa Rosa, Lady-Stick-Up-Her-Ass?" I retorted as she rolled her eyes.

"So you heard that, did you?"

"I think the whole damn world heard it, Mom."

"So, other than the racing restrictions, what else has Dear Ole Toretto gone all tight-assed about?" I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"There's the million dollar question. Let me put it this way: school's about the only place I go without being tailed by god-only-knows-how-many of Daddy's goons."

"They've spent too much time breathin' NOS fumes to see straight." Mom said, laughing.

"What can I get you ladies to drink?" The waitress asked.

"Coffee and tomato juice," came the unison reply. The waitress looked at us like we had three heads before turning and walking away.

"She's never done that before…"I could feel the nerves lowly reclaiming my mind set towards my mother.

"So, how long have I been the equivalent of Johnny Tran to Mia?"

"There's another loaded question. She isn't usually like that." I stopped talking when our waitress returned with our drinks. "I think she's trying to deal with not having to be my mom 24/7 anymore…not that she ain't damn good at it. She'd die happy if she could get me to lose interest in cars." She laughed again.

"Yeah, you're definitely your mother's daughter."

"Was there ever any doubting it from the moment you laid eyes on me in Santa Rosa?"

"No, it was like lookin' in a goddamn mirror!" I cocked my head, contemplating her words.

"I think you just nailed why I'm not allowed to race."

"What, it's taken you from the moment you saw me till now to figure out that you're the spitting image of your menace-to-racers-everywhere mother?

The waitress returned to take our orders and we got the same look from her when we both ordered chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, fried apples and coffee.

"So, I've never seen you at the parties at Race Wars, one of the only things I'm allowed to go to by myself."

"You ever see Dom at those parties?"

"No…"

"He was too busy fighting with me to go to the parties." I felt myself tense physically as the walls slowly went back up.

"Ma, is that what they meant by trying to protect me?"

"Dom thought that if you didn't know where I was then Johnny would leave you alone."

"Johnny, sure; Ming-Na's a whole different enchilada. Hell's more likely to freeze over—twice."

"We should have thrown that bastard and his family off the pier when we had the chance."

"Why, so I'd spend the first eighteen years of my life bouncing from home to home while my parents rot in prison? Thanks but no thanks."

"When I was your age I'd been suspended every year; three times a semester."

"What the hell for?"

"It was **always **about Dom."

"I get suspended in the first week of school and I'll be doing time at the diner till midterms."

"What you fight over?"

"You and Daddy…Ming-Na and her cousins talk shit about me or my family, I get impulsive."

"How long you got till school starts?" she asked, I shrugged in response.

"Two weeks after labor day, I think. Why?" I wasn't following her train of thought.

"I'm gonna go around Dom's pansy-ass no-racing rule…what he don't know won't hurt him and what happens in Santa Rosa **stays** in Santa Rosa,

"You're serious?"

"As the heart attack Dom'll have when he finds out."

"When I find out what, Letty?"

"That she's moving to Los Angeles." I answered impulsively. I wasn't sure why I'd said that; maybe it was to stall another fight. "And I was hoping you might let me go to Santa Rosa to spend some time with Mom before school starts back and I have no time for anything?" he glanced suspiciously at Mom, and then back at me, almost as if he knew we weren't telling the truth.

"We'll discuss it later." I groaned when he said this.

"Great; why bother with the bullshit when everybody knows 'we'll discuss' means Daddy Dom will do a lot of yelling and he'll say no and that'll be the end of it." The waitress returned with our food, walking unknowingly into a highly awkward moment. "If you don't mind, I don't need a guard dog to eat my food and _not_ get into trouble."

"What the hell was that?!" I shrugged. In all actuality, my mouth had pretty much overridden my head. "By the way, that's _my_ smart mouth you got."

"So you're the one he's cursin' at when I piss him off…nice to know." I laughed at my own lame joke, trying to lighten the moment up, only to realize that I was failing miserably. I went back to poking at my food, not really eating any more of it since I'd lost my appetite.

We left nearly an hour later and after about an hour more of driving, we go to the base. We were met by Taylor—the sister of someone on Hector's crew—who promptly dragged hector over, and soon enough the coronas had been broken out.

"So I'm guessing nobody's told your moms about You-know-who?" she asked. I shrugged.


	5. There's Us And That's Enough

**Chapter Five:**** There's Us (And That's Enough)**

"What the hell was that?!" I shrugged. In all actuality, my mouth had pretty much overridden my head. "By the way, that's _my_ smart mouth you got."

"So you're the one he's cursin' at when I piss him off…nice to know." I laughed at my own lame joke, trying to lighten the moment up, only to realize that I was failing miserably. I went back to poking at my food, not really eating any more of it since I'd lost my appetite.

We left nearly an hour later and after about an hour more of driving, we go to the base. We were met by Taylor—the sister of someone on Hector's crew—who promptly dragged hector over, and soon enough the coronas had been broken out.

"So I'm guessing nobody's told your moms about You-know-who?" she asked. I shrugged; I hadn't really thought about it since Kat rarely ever came to the house anymore.

"Why?" I thought she wasn't comin' this year?"

"We're about to find out; she's on her way straight to your pops."

"Not for long." I got in her way and managed to catch Leon's attention.

"Hey, Kat…I thought you were goin' to Salt Lake to see your sister or somethin'?" She shoved past me, forcing me to run past her and try to get to my dad before she did.

"Dad, we've got a slight—or major—problem. Kat ain't in salt lake. She's here and about 2.5 minutes behind me. Does she know ma's here?" the look on my dad's face said it all. Kat was beside us before I'd responded. "Have fun, Daddy." I caught up with Taylor in the hanger Hector'd staked out as his hang-out. I think my expression said everything hector wanted to ask.

"So he didn't bother letting Kat know what's goin' on, eh, esa?" he asked, laughing.

"I guess we'll know what the damage is by whether team Toretto is still here in the morning." Back at the Toretto HQ, things were quiet—for the moment…or so I thought.

"You wanna tell me what that was about?" Kat asked Dad softly.

"There's nothing to tell, Katrina." My dad answered flatly in a tone that was meant to tell her to back off.

"What, I go outta town for a few days and you automatically go after the first whore that strikes your fancy?!" I walked in on the tail end of this.

"Girl, you done it now." Leon muttered under his breath as I came up behind her.

"You've made three big mistakes, Kat. One: you messed with my family. Secondly, you were actually stupid enough to actually think you could make my dad happy. You messed up the most, though, when you called my mother a whore." Kat turned to me, almost foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog.

"Your mother left because she was a coward, you stupid little girl. She couldn't keep _his_ leash short enough so she gave up her claim to him." I wanted to tear her throat out.

"Do not tell lies about things you know jack shit about!" she moved to slap me when dad caught her arm midair.

"Kat, if you ever want to have the slightest shot in hell at me again," he trailed off. She dropped her arm and I took the chance to leave. Dad was hot on my heals.

"I cant believe you're still sharing your bed with a girl who looks like she used to be one of Johnny Tran's girls!" I spat. "When Mom goes back to Santa Rosa, I'm going with her until school starts. After the stunt Kat pulled, she'll probably _never_ come back to LA."

"You're not going anywhere, Maya. You're grounded." I flipped him the bird and walked out, catching up with Taylor yet again, who offered to off Kat herself.

"As eager as I am to be rid of the wicked witch of the west, I don't need you taking the fall for it."

When I came back, dad was about to race and there was no sign of my mom.

He won—just like always.

We partied later, but I wasn't in the mood for dancing, so leon brought me a soda when he finally managed to tear himself away from the party.

"She's still here so don't get any ideas about keying your old man's car," he said as I took a swig from the soda and replied.

"I was actually thinkin' more of keying Kat's car." Leon grinned at me and swigged his beer.

"Lucky she's already gone, then, huh, girlie?" Leon replied.

"Tell me she at least kicked Kat's ass before the bitch got away?" I laughed when Leon didn't answer. "I told you two NOT to introduce her to my dad but nobody ever listens to me." I fished a few coronas out of one of the coolers and found Vince, who had Mia attached to his neck.

"What're you so happy about?" he asked.

"Better question: what did you put in Mia's drink and is my father going to kill you for it when he finds out?" I retorted, laughing. He growled spastically, his hand clamping in Mia's hair.

"Go find Hector; Dom's probably with him." I left V and Mia to themselves, finding hector in his hangar, Dad and Letty were with him—Taylor glared at her from across the room.

"Tay, can we hold off on tryin' to kill my mom just a little bit longer?" I said, standing beside her.

"I just can't believe she kicked Kat's ass and she's only been here for 36 hours!" Tay said exasperatedly.

"Even if it gives my dad a chance in hell of getting back together with my mom?" She gave me a look that said it all.

"I didn't mean it like that, May. I just wish I coulda gotten a piece of that vaca before she left."

"Yeah, you and most of the other girls here." I said, heading back over to Hector and my parents.

"So, rumor has it, you finally got rid of the longest-lasting whore the Toretto clan's ever had." I saw Hector watching me as I talked with my mom and I knew that he'd known for at least a few hours. He lured my dad off to look at some car.

"I'd say Leon's mouth seems a little worse than I remember." She replied, but didn't sound surprised.

"So its true, then? Because if it is, your standing with people loyal to this family may improve a lot faster." Letty looked at me like I'd grown a third head.

"_Dios Mio_, you're worse than Mia about the gossip around here."

"You missed Dad's race, ya know."

"No, actually, I didn't. I was at the finish line. But I noticed that you weren't there." She replied, coolly.

"I was, I was. I just stayed with Hector and Tay till the money changed hands." There was a pause that seemed to last forever. "So, you leavin' again after this is all over with?"

"Baby, I have a life in Santa Rosa—one that doesn't revolve around Dominic Toretto." She almost sounded disgusted by the name. I couldn't listen to this anymore.

"If you walk, you're basically letting Kat win. The bitch doesn't know a piston ring from a fuel intake! I swear my IQ drops 5 points if I'm around her more than fifteen minutes!"

"What, and Vince doesn't?"

"Just because he talks slow don't mean he's stupid. He's finally figured out that if he ever wants to get Mia to himself, he's gonna have to make some sacrifices. So, ignore any bite marks you might happen to see." Mom made a noise that sounded like a groan of frustration.

"At least somebody's getting some. At the rate I'm goin', I'll never get laid again!"

"Don't be so sure about that…its been a while since Kat stayed over night at the house."

"Maya, I'm warning you…"

"Aight, aight. Hint taken. Geez, touchy much?" I turned to leave as Dad came back from wherever Hector had taken him. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear." I smirked to myself as I left.

"The hell is she on about?"

"She's got it in her head to play matchmaker." There was a heavy silence. "So what's this I hear about V and Mia gettin' together?" Dad laughed.

"So I wasn't the only one who heard her swear hell would freeze over before she'd ever consider getting together with V?" Ma smiled.

"Guess not. It's late…I should get some sleep if I'm drivin' back tomorrow afternoon." She said, turning to leave.

"Lett, you don't have to—"

"Don't do that. I have a life of my own that I need to get back to. I'm not going to stoop to that level—" before she could continue Dom kissed her soundly on the mouth. "What are you doin?" she whispered, her voice husky.

"You'll never leave me, Letty...not now that you've been around Maya." Dom growled in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"I have to go back." Letty murmured against his lips. "But I will come back." She whispered, nudging her nose against his own.

"What's so damn important in Santa Rosa that you can't stay a few days?" he asked, watching her from where he stood against the wall.

"I have a job, Dom. A real job…one that I don't have to stay out all night runnin' from the cops." Letty scoffed at the memories as she said this.

"Like you didn't love every minute of it." Dom said, almost laughing.

"I loved the cars, Dom. Not so much the almost getting booked on a weekly basis."

"There was a time when you loved me, too, Letty." Dom said quietly. "Used to be all you needed to be happy were me, the guys and your car keys."

"That was a long time ago, Dom." Letty said. "Before the heists and all the bullshit with Johnny."

"We could have that again, Letty." Dom said.

"And we will, Dom. But I have to take care of business in Santa Rosa. We can't just pick up and leave like the old days, Dominic, but I will be back." Dom pulled her into a kiss that was filled with as much promise as Letty could remember there being in an embrace with Dominic Toretto.


	6. Wake Up Call

**Chapter Six:** Wake Up Call

It had been a while since Letty'd woken up feeling as tired as she did refreshed.

Shifting slightly, she smiled to herself when she felt Dom's arm tighten around her waist and keep her close to him. She turned over and got as close to him as she could without sitting on top of him.

"I love you, Dom." Letty whispered in his ear, her fingers trailing lazily up and down his breastbone. A growl escaped from her lover's throat.

"Whatchu doin', Letty?" his voice was gravelly as his eyes remained closed.

"What does it look like? I'da thought you'd know a wake-up call when ya got one." She said softly, the tips of her hair grazing his collar bone. It was then that Dom finally opened his eyes.

"I'd almost forgotten how right it feels to have you here with me," Dom said as she laid back down beside him, laying her head on his chest.

"Dom?"

"Mm?'

"Why'd you stop callin'?" At the asking of this question, Dom felt a knot grow in his stomach. He'd felt guilty about no longer calling her like clockwork, the way he had the first eight years of his daughter's life. At that moment, he could only think of one thing to say.

"Why'd you stop comin' to Wars when she turned eight?"

"Things got complicated, Dominic. I got lucky on a few odd jobs here and there," Letty explained, "and before I knew it, I was a manager at the garage belonging to some guy Harry knows."

"Harry never said anything—"

"Because I asked him not to…" Letty said, "I was trying to prove to myself that I could make a life for myself outside of the garage." Whatever else Letty had been about to say, it was quickly forgotten when Dom pulled her into another heated kiss.

"I'm goin' with you, when you go to Santa Rosa." he murmured against her lips. She laughed and it drove him crazy like it always had.

"That eager to have me all to yourself again, are you?" Letty purred into his ear. There was something feral about the way he growled at her as he flipped her onto her back, en route to showing her just how much he'd missed her.

**A/N:** I know its short, but hey, I've waited long enough to update, right? Review & I'll be able to update faster!


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